It is well known in the art to utilize an injector assembly which has an injector sleeve manufactured from a deformable material such as brass or copper. Corresponding to its deformable nature, the injector sleeve can be swaged or pressed under pressure to form a combustion seal. Additionally, the injector sleeve is normally used in conjunction with a resilient means to form a cooling liquid seal.
An example of an injector assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,334,617 issued to Glenn L. Palkowsky on Aug. 8, 1967 wherein an injector-receiving copper tube extends through a coolant water jacket. Leakage between the coolant jacket and a combustion chamber due to thermal distortion of the combustion chamber wall is prevented by providing an annular ring on the tube which engages an annular sealing surface in a lower wall of a cylinder head extending parallel to the plane of the wall. The sealing force on the ring is obtained by clamping the injector against an annular surface of the tube interior adjacent the position of the annular ring. The tube end is deformed into a counterbore extending upwardly from the combustion chamber surface of the lower wall to positively retain the tube in the lower wall and the clamping force positively seals the wall and the clamping force positively seals the joint. Additionally, the injector tube includes a cylindrical upper portion having an outwardly directed flange at the upper end, which engages an o-ring seal carried in a counterbored portion of an opening in the upper wall of the cylinder head to prevent leakage of coolant from the water jacket. As with conventional injector assemblies, the invention disclosed by Palkowsky utilizes a deformable injector tube which is deformed during installation by the clamping force of the injector in order to retain the injector tube in the cylinder head and to form a combustion seal. Periodically, however, the injector tube and surrounding structures or seals may need to be inspected during normal maintenance schedules. In order to remove the injector tube, it would have to be destroyed because the deformation of the injector tube would make it virtually impossible to remove the injector tube intact. The destruction of the injector tube could allow fragments of the injector tube to enter the combustion chamber leading to possible failure of the engine. Moreover, the injector tube once removed, would always have to be replaced at an additional cost. Additionally, the use of a deformable injector tube would decrease the stability of the injector assembly because deformable materials tend to relax and lose their sealing capabilities over time. Furthermore, by associating the injector tube with both the combustion seal and the cooling liquid seal, any damage to the injector tube could potentially allow combustion and cooling liquid leakage.
The present invention discloses an injector assembly adapted for use in an internal combustion engine which provides improved combustion and cooling liquid sealing without the use of deforming specific components. Therefore, the present invention can be easily assembled and disassembled without damage to any of the injector assembly components making the manufacture and maintenance of the invention less costly, time-consuming, and hazardous to the life of the engine. Furthermore, the use of non-deformable materials increases the reliability of the injector assembly by increasing stability of both the coolant and combustion seals.